In the scrapbook of her life, my great aunt, Benita “Detty” (McGinnis) McCormick, paid homage to her mother, Mary Jane McGinnis and Mary Jane’s five sisters and two brothers Thomas and John. This week, we’ll take a brief look at her mother’s younger sisters, Elizabeth, Margaret, Frances, Delia, and Agnes Gaffney. Not included in these descriptions were two babies, Edward and Clara Gaffney, both of whom died in infancy. According to my mother’s recollections, they were always fondly included by their brothers and sisters in conversations about their family.Aunt Detty begins her description, above, of her mother and “the aunts,” as they were collectively known to the family:

Where is this world could a girl have found six such wonderful women to watch over and guide her as my mother (Bottom Left in photo) and her five delightful sisters – two dressmakers, one milliner, a school-teacher, one lady, one clown and all of these marvelous cooks!